Opening Prayer/Scripture Reading:

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice (Psalm 105:3)

You are great, O Lord and greatly to be praised; great is Your power and Your wisdom is without measure. You encourage us to delight in Your praise, for You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You. (Saint Augustine, Confessions,1,1)

Catholic Update:

Are Our Images Of God Growing?

How God Invites Us to Grow

Summary:

To be human is to search for God. Throughout history down to the present moment human beings have given expression to their search for God in religious beliefs and practices. God has given us minds to search for the truth and hearts that long for unconditional, forgiving love. These basic human desires are fulfilled in God who is truth and love.

Your faith journey that brings you to the RCIA is your journey toward God through His Son, Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is also our common journey to truth, happiness, and love in the context of the Christian community.

a. All of us desire to live a fully human life.

b. As human beings we are religious beings. The desire for God is written on every human heart because we are created by God for communion with God

c. The dignity of every human being rests on the fact that we not only seek God but we are invited to enter into a personal relationship with God

d. Only in God do we find the truth and happiness that we never stop searching for. To find truth and happiness in God is to find the fulfillment of our human desire for truth, love and happiness. (CCC 27)

Discussion Questions:

1. How has your personal faith journey led you to the Catholic Church?

2. Discuss ways in which human beings tend to look for happiness apart from God? (CCC, 29)

3. How can we know that our search for true human happiness is with God? (CCC, 27 - 30)

4. Where do we find evidence of God;s desire for human happiness? (CCC, 31 - 35)

Scripture References/Quotations:

Acts 17: 26-28

Romans 1: 19-20

Acts 14: 15-17

Wisdom 13: 1-9

'The desire for God is written on the human heart, because we created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw us to himself. Only in God will we find the truth and happiness we never stop searching for.' (CCC, 27)

'The Church teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason. Without this capacity, humanity would not be able to welcome God's revelation. Human beings have this capacity because they are created in the image of God." (CCC 36)

Suggestions For Further Reading:

Universal Catechism, Man's Capacity for God, articles 27-49

Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 4-18

Second Vatican Council, Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae,1.

Saint Augustine, Confessions

Closing Prayer:

Our Father